Iron ore futures tumble below $100 on pessimism over China demand

The most traded iron ore, for September delivery, on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange slumped 9.1% to a session low of 652 yuan ($96.67) a tonne, its weakest since Feb. 25.

It was on track for a weekly fall of more than 12%. On the Singapore Exchange, the front-month August contract for the steelmaking ingredient dropped 2.6% to $97.60 a tonne, its lowest since November, putting it on track for a weekly loss of more than 11%.

Mirroring weakness in iron ore demand, China’s crude steel output fell 3.3% in June compared with a year earlier, and was down 6% from May.